STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Unlike Doc Brown, 41-year-old Sal Sportiello didn't have to hit his head on the bathroom sink in order to get the idea to build his own time machine. It was something he had wanted to accomplish ever since he saw the first "Back to the Future" movie as a teenager in 1985.

Starting around 2009, between work and raising his two sons, this low voltage technician from New Springville began making that dream a reality. He purchased a DeLorean and started on a journey that lasted him over four years -- meticulously piecing together a replica time machine that includes versions of almost all the original car's actual parts and components.

"It's taken an endless amount of hours. I can't even tell you how many hours I've spent on trying to make it as close as I could get it," said Sportiello.

His breathtaking imitation might not be able to travel thorough time, but the stainless steel structure has still taken him to heights he never thought possible.

"Driving this car is an experience that takes me into the future every time I get in it. It takes me someplace where I've never been before."

Anytime he goes for a spin around New York City, Sportiello is constant fodder for excited kids and adults wanting to snap a cell phone picture. He has driven it in parades, and has been approached by television and movie executives. Sportiello was even apparently asked by the Beastie Boys for permission to use his replica DeLorean in a scene for their last music video. He declined all offers at the time, saying that the car just wasn't ready.

"The public reaction is like being a movie star. Except I'm not the movie star -- the car is," he said.

Besides the novelty factor, Sportiello also puts it toward a good cause.

As a member of TeamFox, he donates any funds raised directly toward the Michael J. Fox Foundation. He even keeps a sticker with the logo on the car's windows. "I built this for the sole fact that it's a goal I wanted to achieve. I enjoyed every bit of time I had with this car and now I want to do something good for others."

While he's never gotten a chance to meet the stars of his favorite movies, Sportiello said he'd love to one day set up some sort of charity event with the real life "Marty" and "Doc."

Never one to seek the spotlight, however, Sportiello still considers this more of a hobby. He has always loved building different things and piecing electronics together -- although he had never taken on a project so involved before.

"One of the most exciting things is making things work. That's what excites me and has put me right where I am all my life."

Currently, he's working on replicating "Johnny 5" from the movie "Short Circuit." For that project, he said he'll build a 400-pound robot that has full mobility and speech similar to the model used in the classic 1980s sci-fi film. "I enjoy bringing things to life, and especially enjoy bringing back the 80s," said Sportiello.

As for the DeLorean, a majority its work was done inside his friend's metal fabrication shop, Laidlaw Ornamental Iron in Port Richmond. His sons, Sal, 13, and Vincent, 10, also helped out -- they too are fans of the movies, agreeing with their dad that the third installment "could have been better."

It took Sportiello years of research to accurately identify each part on the original movie's car. Even harder was then tracking down the correct versions of these parts for his car, most of which were rare, expensive and impossible to purchase from normal outlets.

For example, his car's flux capacitor, which in the movie "makes time travel possible," is made of relays from a naval transmitter with LED lights hooked on the inside. "It's not currently something you'd find at your local store," said Sportiello.

"I could have just put in some plastic flux capacitor, but I didn't. I wanted to use replicas of the same parts in the movie," he said.

To do that, Sportiello studied countless hours of film and poured over photographs of the original DeLorean. He then searched Google for different items until he found a match. He had additional help from Robert "Videobob" Moseley, a friend who also builds novelty movie cars in Texas, including his own DeLorean."

Next came tracking down the parts, which largely consisted of searching through aviation junkyards. "It took four to six years of completely hardcore research in just about every part of that car," he said.

One of the first pieces he worked on -- a "plutonium chamber" on the car's rear end -- is actually made of heat sinks wrapped around an old hub cap, attached to a jet engine turbine part and covered with a fabricated cap.

"I went on Google and looked at every type of heat sink until I found one that had the same dimensions."

Fans of the movie might recognize the sound this part makes when unlocked, which Sportiello includes in his model. There's also the familiar swooshing noise made when the gull-wing doors are opened.

Still, it was all worth it, he said, to see the look on his children's faces once it was finally completed.

"Like Marty said in the movie, 'if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.I think my boy's pushed me. Just knowing that my boys wanted to see this car done...I wanted to show them how to accomplish a goal."